Before we go into the understanding the Supreme Power and the Divine Mother Let us have a brief about the various terms that are prevalent and are known since the immorality.
Adi Parashakti, Adi Shakti and Shakti are synonymes and represent the same power which has metamorphosed from one to another. If you look at it with eternity, they appear to be same, born out of the same things, yet appear distict from each other. Adi Parashakti represent the ‘Cosmic Power’ of Universe, Adi Shakti represent the ‘Ancient Power’ of Planet Earth and Shakti represent the ‘Power’ or ‘True Nature’ which is available on Earth.
The Divine Mother Parashakti created the Trinity of Gods who were named as Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma. This creation was done by infusing her energy by the method of separation. She also created Trinity of Goddess named as Mahakali, Maha Lakshmi and Maha Saraswati who as the soulmates of the Gods were suppose to fullfill the assigned task of Nature Creation, Preservation and Destruction. This form of God and Goddess which were created by the Parashkti should not be construed as physical male and female bodies but they were subtle and elusive forms of nature. They were the parts of the Mother Adi Parashakti.
As per the Devi Puran Adi Parashakti is the main source of energy which created the universe. Planet Earth is just a small particle in its whole creation. Look at the photograph of the earth taken from NASA through its Cassini spacecraft while passing throgh Saturn.The earth appears just a tiny bluish dot. Modern scientific evidence also signify this fact. In the whole transformation of creation, the Cosmic Super Energy or Power changed from ‘Nirakar’ or ‘Formless’ to ‘Sakar’ or acquired ‘Form’.
Shiva appeared as Ardhnarishwar or his body appeared as half male and half female. As per Shiva Purana, Lord Brahma after seeing that the creation was not expanding, he became worried and excogitated Shiva. Lord Shiva was pleased with his austerity and appeared in the form of Ardhnarishwar that was half male and half female. The half male part is known to be the Shiva and half female part is known to be Shakti or even by some as Kali. Brahma worshiped Ardhnarishwar form of Shiva and pleased with his act Lord Shiva asked Lord Brahma for a boon. Bramha requested Shiva to separate Shakti from him (Shiva) as he needed the energy (Shakti) to create the world. Thus, Shakti was separated from Shiva. The Separated Shakti from Shiva was known to be Durga which was in fact the soul mate of Lord Shiva. Mother Durga is nature and hence also known as Prakriti.
Brahma created the world by creating the creatures who can be engaged by copulative processes. They were the physical form of ‘Purush” or ‘Male’ drawn from the aesthetic energy of Shiva and the “Ishtri” or ‘Female’ drawn from the aesthetic energy of Shakti or in a way from the soulmate of Lord Shiva. It should always be remembered that the ‘Shakti’ was no one else but the separated part of the Lord Shiva which existed as half female in his body.
Lord Shiva is considered as the father of the unverse, whereas Goddess Kali, Durga and Parvati appeared as his soulmates in his various forms of existence. Adi Shakti manfiested into Sati in human form and was known as Parvati.
After the creation of the world was finished, the eternal cosmic power of Adi Shakti was no more required as a separate entity and therefore it was decided to let it be united with Lord Shiva. Adi Shakti therefore took the incarnation and was known as Sati. Unfortunately in the course of tragic events Sati had to renounce her physical form and which made Shiva so sad that he too renounced the earthly world and went into deep meditation. The process of re-unification of Shakti with Shiva was completed only when the Adi Shakti took the another human form and was known as Parvati and who married to Shiva.
Maa Durga which is the manifestation of Adi Shakti controls the nine planets to maintain the cosmic orders of universe. Maa Durga in her form of Nav Durga provides energy to the nine planets. Various forms of Nav Duga can be described as follows:-
Kushmanda Shakti governing the SUN
Mahagauri governing the RAHU
Kaal Ratri governing the SHANI
Shiddhi Dhatri governing the KETU
Katyayini governing the BRIHASPATI
Brahmcharini governing the MANGAL
Shail Putri governing the MOON
Skanda Mata governing the BUDDH
Chandraghanta governing the SHUKRA
During the days of Navaratra the power or cosmic energy of the divine mother Adi Parashakti is said to be the maximum on the earth. It is during this period that human beings can worship her to be bestowed with her powers to ward off the evil effects.
Adi Parashkti in her original manifestation devolved to Goddess Durga, Sati and Paravati.
However in her first partial expansion She devolved to MahaSaraswati which is Shakti of Lord Brahma. She is known as the goddess of learning, wisdom and creativity. MahaSaraswati was created from the body of Mother Parvati. She is also known as Ambika Devi as per Duga Saptashati.
The second partial expansion of Adi Parashkti embodied Mahalakshmi who is said to be the goddess of material wealth and preservation. She is the Shakti of Lord Vishnu. She was created the the mind of Mother Parvati. She is also known as Chandi Devi as per Durga Saptashati.
Mahakali is the third partial expansionary form of Adi Parashakti. She is known as the goddess of Salvation. She is the Shakti of Lord Shiva. She was created from the eyes of Vishnu and was also known as Yogmaya and Tamasi Devi as per Durga Sapashati.
Many scholars have ascertained that Mahakali in her abstract forms is also known as Kali (as Vidya or Tantra Shakti) and Yogmaya (as Mayashakti). As Vidya Shakti or Tranta Shakti she splitted into ten goddesses of wisdom and Mahavidya and have risen as original source of ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu. Nine of the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu have already commensed on this earth during different Yugas and tenth incarnation or ‘Avatar’ is awaited in the present age of Kaliyuga. As per the information obtained from Sri Bhagwata Mahapurna, a brief about the different ‘Avatar’ of Vishnu along with his original surce of incarnation is given below:-
From Dhumavati, Lord Mastsya was incarnated
From BaglaMukhi, Lord Kurma was incarnated
From Bhairavi, Lord Varaha was incarnated
From Chinnamasta, Lord Narsingh was incarnated
From TripurSundari, Lord Vaamna was incarnated
From Matangi, Lord Parashurama was incarnated
From Tara, Lord Rama was incarnated
From Kali, Lord Krishna was incarnated
From Kamala, Lord Buddha was incarnated
From Bhuvaneshvari, Lord Kalki will be incarnated
With this in brief, I have finished deliberation upon ‘Descent of the Divine Mother Adi Parashakti’ on this planet earth and her various forms of eternal power or ‘Shakti’. I have taken maximum care in presenting the authentic material yet in ignorance there are possibility of missing links or some distortions. Your prudent evaluation is highly solicited.
In the holy period of Navaratra let us chant the epic Mantras of ‘Shri Durga Saptshati’. Let the Goddess Durga Bless All…..
ॐ ऐं आत्मतत्त्वं शोधयामि नमः स्वाहा।
ॐ ह्रीं विद्यातत्त्वं शोधयामि नमः स्वाहा॥
ॐ क्लीं शिवतत्त्वं शोधयामि नमः स्वाहा।
ॐ ऐं ह्रीं क्लीं सर्वतत्त्वं शोधयामि नमः स्वाहा॥
ॐ ह्रीं क्लीं श्रीं क्रां क्रीं चण्डिकादेव्यै शापनाशागुग्रहं कुरु कुरु स्वाहा !!!
Reference: Wikipedia, Vishnu Purana , Srimad Devi Bhagwatam, Shiva Mahapurana — Gitapress Gorakhpur
Originally published at www.againstmisleading.exploremyindia.in.
